The Role of Mentoring in STEM Faculty Leadership to Broadening Participation in STEM Faculty and Students

Abstract

Mentoring in faculty development is seen as acatalyst to broaden the participation of underrepresented groups in Science,Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) leadership. STEM facultyleaders are organizational influencers with or without formal authority orappointments. Within the fields of STEM,mentoring is often construed as more than senior faculty mentoring junior faculty. Thisstudy explores the perspectives of 13 professors and chairs at HistoricallyBlack Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) on faculty mentoring based onsemi-structured interviews conducted by the Center for the Advancement of STEMLeadership (CASL). The main questions addressed in this study are: What, ifany, mentoring styles or strategies do STEM faculty leaders acknowledge andemploy? What specific leadership styles are associated with mentoring in HBCUsfor STEM faculty who acknowledge mentoring as an aspect of their leadership?The findings of this study suggest that STEM faculty leaders who adopttransformational, servant leadership, and intellectual styles find value inmentoring.